If 2 Painkillers Are Banned, What Next?
"It really makes sense to do what the panel is suggesting," said Dr. Scott Fishman, chief of the pain medicine division and a professor of anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis, and president of the American Pain Foundation. "The key is that the public needs to understand that they [the FDA] are not voting to ban the drugs [contained in the pill: the opiate and acetaminophen]. The drugs are fine. It's the combination of the drugs in one pill. Each drug has its own problems but, used separately, can be used safely."
Narcotic painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone run the risk of being abused. "We want to get tighter control," Fishman said.
Using two pills instead of one, if needed, would enable physicians to better fine-tune the amount of each drug that their patients would be getting, reducing the risk of an overdose of acetaminophen. An estimated 42,000 Americans are treated in hospitals each year for acetaminophen overdoses, half of which are accidental.
"I agree in theory with what they [the FDA advisers] are doing because ...
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